Hammock.



W. B. FOSTER.

lfl/umwon. APPLICATION FILED FEB- H. |916.

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WILLIAM B. FOSTER, OF U'IICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 FOSTER BRGTHERS MANU# FACTURING COMPANY, OF UTCA, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION.

HAIVMOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. d, 1917..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, WILLIAM B. FOSTER, of Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of Newl York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Hammocks; and .l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon, 'which form part of this specification.

My present invention relates to hammocks, and particularly to that class of hammocks wherein the body is composed of a sheet of flexible material so that the hammock may be readily folded or extended.

he purpose of my invention is to provide an improved article of the class described and one which is simple and economical in construction, but eflicient and convenient in use.

A further purpose of my invention is to provide a hammock of the class'described which has certain advantages of construction and certain combinations of parts whereby a thoroughly efficient hammock may be constructed in a simple manner from inexpensive material.

A still further purpose is to provide a hammock of novel construction and novel combination of parts, resulting in an improved form of said article.

Further purposes and advantages of my invention will appear from the specification and claim herein.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a hammock embodying my invention, the central part of the hammock being broken away in order to show the article upon a larger scale.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ropes used in constructing the hammock, the central p0rtion of each rope being broken away.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a sectional View on line 4.--4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of one member of the clamp used at the hammock corners and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the inner side of said member.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular description, there is shown a hammock having its body composed of a foursided sheet of flexible material 7 such as canvas, duck or other cloth or fabric of suflicient strength and durability. At each of the opposite ends of said sheet of material there is formed therefrom a hem 8 extending the full width of the material and having inclo'sed therein an end rod 9 which may conveniently be a piece of pipe or tubing in order to obtain the necessary rigidness, strength and lightness, or a piece of more flexible material as wood or bamboo if it is desired to have the rods somewhat yielding.

Along the two sides of the hammock body there are formed therefrom yhems 10. rlhrough each of these hems there is run one of the side ropes 11 or 12. Theseyside ropes inclosed within said hem extend for the full length of the hammock body 7 and at each corner of the hammock body pass opposite the adjacent extremity of one of the end rods 9 and is thererigidly connected to the adjacent end of the end rod by means hereinafter described. Immediately after passing said corners the side ropes 11 and 12 on the opposite sides of the hammock are at each end of the hammock inclined toward each other and finally securely fastened to each other at a point some distance from the adjacent end of the hammock as at 13 and 14 by any desired means. rlhe preferred form, however, of uniting the ropes at the point 13 is to have the end of one rope such as 11 spliced into the oppositely located portion of the other rope 12, after which splice the rope 12 may extend as 12a beyond said fasten ing point a sufficient distance to allow ample rope to secure the hammock in any desired position. At the other end of the hammock a similar splice is made, preferably by splicing the end of rope 12 into the opposite portion of rope 11. Beyond this splicing point 14: the rope 11 is extended as 11a a suflicient distance to aliord convenient means for fastening the hammock in place.

rFhe means shown for fastening the side ropes 11 or 12 to the extremities of the end rods 9 consists of a clamp formed of two substantially similar oppositely disposed halves or parts 15 and 16 held together intermediate their ends by a headed screw 17 loosely extending through one member as 15 and in screw-threaded engagement with the other member 16. rllhe inner ends of said clamp members 15 and 16 are oppositely recessed as at 18 so that said inner ends fit .beconvenient and durable in use.

about and almost encircle the end of the adjacent rod 9, which here as elsewhere in its length is inclosed in the hem 8 formed from the material of the hammock body. The recesses 18 in the inner ends of the clamp members terminate in a wall 19 against which the extreme end of the end rods 8 will bear as plainly indicated in Fig. 3. The outer ends of these clamps beyond the screw 17 are likewise recessed but transversely of said clamp members as at 2O so as -tor receive therebetween the rope 11 or` 12 as plainly indicated in the drawings. Preferably the recessed and rope engaging portion of the members of the clamp are providedvwith oneor more projections 21 in order to get a more positive hold upon the rope passing through the clamp. It will now be seen that when the parts are brought together in proper position the headed screw 17 may be used to draw the two parts 15 and 16 of the clamp togetherwith great force upon the endrrod 9 and upon the portion of the rope 11 Vor 12 passing through said clamp. f

It will now be evident that I have provided va hammock whichmay be readily formed of common material and which will The end rodsyprevent undue sagging of the central portion of the hammock and form a convenient means for holding the hammock in extended position when suspended. As the ropes 11 and 12k are rigidly fastened to the ends of these end rods the hammock will be maintained in Va smooth and extended formwhen hungr Aup and YVthe longitudinal strain upon the hammock is carried by the parallel portions of the side ropes and not by the sheet of flexible material.

. The corner clamps further assist in holding the body of the hammock in proper po sition at the ends, since it will be observed that the material of the body of the hammock as formed in clamp and the end rods 9 and as a part of the said hems 10 said material is between the side ropes 11 or 12 and said clamps.

It will be noted further that the hammock here shown may be folded or rolled into very compact space as the end rods 9 are the only relatively rigid portions upon the hammock and they may be conveniently used as rolls about which to roll or fold the body of the hammock with the extended portions of the end ropes inclosed within the body or left outside as means to tie the hammock together as may be most convenient.

`What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

The combination in a hammock of a rectangular sheet of woven fabric forming the body of the hammock and provided with integral hems at its ends and sides, a rod at each end of the hammock extending along said end within the hem, a rope or like flexible member extending along each of thc two sides of the hammock within said side hems and extending past the extremities of said end rods and inclined toward each other and united at a point considerably beyond said end rods and forming means for suspending said hammock and clamps located outside the fabric of the hems and pressing therethrough against the rods and.

ropes for securing the extremities of said end rods and the adjacent portion of said ropes in relative position.

In witness whereof I have aiiixed my signature this 1st day of February, 1916.

WILLIAM B. FOSTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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